How Can I Arrange For Witnesses
Contact and ask the witness to testify. The best witness is one who was present and has personal knowledge of the facts. A witness who was present at an event is much better than one who was told about it by someone else. If possible, each party and their witnesses should be at the same location for the hearing. If a witness cannot be at the same location and must be contacted at a different telephone number, provide the witnesss name and telephone number to the Appeals Referee or hearing official whose name and telephone number appear on the Notice of Hearing. Instruct the witness to be available at the scheduled hearing time and to remain available until dismissed by the Appeals Referee or hearing official. The Appeals Referee or hearing official cannot call your witnesses before or after the hearing. The Appeals Referee or hearing official can only contact your witnesses during the hearing, when all parties can hear what the witness has to say and have a chance to ask questions about the testimony.
How To File An Appeal When Your Unemployment Claim Is Denied
Unemployment insurance provides benefits to people who are out of a job and looking for work. Each state administers its own unemployment insurance system, with help from the federal government. In order to obtain benefits from your states system, you must demonstrate that you meet the eligibility criteria. If the state denies your claim, you have the right to appeal that decision. Most states have a very short deadline for filing an appeal, so you must move quickly.
This article will outline the common features found in most states unemployment insurance systems and the procedures for appeal. You should investigate your own states system further before filing a claim or appealing a denial.
Uia Unemployment Hearings And Appeals
An unemployment appeal hearing is similar to a court of law hearing, but it is not as formal, typically lasts less than an hour and is customarily conducted by telephone. The purpose of an unemployment hearing is to allow all parties to present testimony and evidence that will enable the administrative law judge , sometimes referred to as a hearing officer, to issue a reasonable and unbiased decision. Unemployment hearings are usually the final opportunity to submit new testimony or evidence. The following resources cover the importance of hearing participation, each party’s responsibility, what happens during a hearing and how to prepare for a hearing.
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What Is The Deadline For Filing An Appeal Of A Determination
The determination will tell you the deadline for filing your appeal. The date listed in the document that you are appealing is controlling. If the last day of the appeal period falls on a weekend or a legal state holiday, the appeal period is automatically extended to the next working day. If your appeal is not filed by the required deadline, it may be denied.
Helpful Information For The Hearing Process
- When your case is scheduled for a hearing, you will receive a notice of the time, date, and place for the hearing. If the hearing is to be conducted by telephone, you will be provided contact numbers for a conference call.
- All witnesses must be present and ready to testify on the date and time scheduled for the hearing.
- Witnesses are persons who have direct knowledge of the events they asked to testify about.
- Sworn statements are not accepted as evidence.
- All documents or other exhibits must be sent to the ALJ hearing your case and to the opposite party so that they are received before the date scheduled for hearing. If you have already sent the proposed exhibits to the Agency, you must resend them to the ALJ and the opposite party for the ALJ hearing.
- If you need the assistance of a translator or have an impediment that requires accommodation, you should notify MOAHR as soon as you receive your notice of hearing.
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What To Expect From The Hearing
Once a claim is appealed, a formal hearing will be scheduled with an ALJ. A notice for a telephone hearing requires the parties to call in to the the toll free number: 866-783-7021 at the time of the hearing. When instructed, enter the PIN number that you received on your Notice of Appeal and Telephone hearing followed by the key and wait for the Administrative Law Judge to begin the hearing.
Warning: The Administrative Law Judge WILL NOT call you for the hearing, you MUST call into the number provided above to participate. Failure to participate in the hearing may result in the dismissal of your appeal.
If you are unable to participate in the appeal hearing as scheduled, please submit a written request to postpone the hearing to the Appeals Bureau at least three days prior to the scheduled hearing. Written submissions may be made via fax, email, or regular mail. The appeal hearing will be postponed only for good cause. The request for a postponement should be made at least three days before the hearing.
The ALJ’s final decision will be mailed to the parties as soon as possible after the hearing. The decision will state the important facts of the case, the legal conclusions and reasons for the decision and an order stating the result of the decision. The decision may disqualify the claimant from receiving UI benefits or may allow the claimant UI benefits that may be chargeable to the employer.
Prepare For Your Hearing
Gather all your documents, depending on your case and issues, and send them in to the Office of Administrative Hearings as instructed on your notice. You should include any documents that you think might support your claim that you are entitled to benefits, such as tax returns showing when you worked, emails or text messages showing why you were released from employment. The documents you need will greatly depend on your specific case.
Do you have anyone who will be able to be a witness on your behalf, will they appear voluntarily, or will you need to have them subpoenaed? If they must be subpoenaed, then that must be done in advance of the hearing. Consider and prepare questions for what you will ask the witness for supporting your claim.
If you have a statement that you want to make to the Judge about why you should get benefits, have that written out beforehand. This will help if you get nervous during the hearing and forget things you wanted to say to the Judge.
Think about questions that the Judge may ask you and have your answers ready.
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What Is An Unemployment Phone Appeal Like
Related
If you are wrongfully denied unemployment benefits, you have a right to appeal the denial. Once you submit an appeal, you participate in a formal hearing process. This process is similar to a courtroom hearing. The only difference is that your hearing is often held over the telephone, instead of in an actual courtroom.
Provide A Closing Statement
Before the phone call is over, you get to present a closing argument further solidifying your case. Your employer gets the same opportunity. You will not get a decision when the call is over. The ALJ makes a final decision after the call ends. Both parties are notified of this decision within a few days or weeks after the appeals process has ended. If you disagree with the ALJ’s decision, you have a right to make another appeal before an entire board of ALJs, instead of just one.
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What Evidence Should I Provide
The best evidence is testimony from a person who was present at an event and can answer specific questions about what happened. Hearsay evidence may support a finding of fact if it meets the statutory requirements set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. 8C, Article 8. If the hearsay evidence does not meet the statutory requirements, then the evidence may qualify as an exception under the hearsay rules found in N.C. Gen. Stat. 8C, Rules 803 and 804. If the testimony is based on a video or audio recording, the recording should be offered into evidence during the hearing.
To have documents or electronic recordings considered, mail, fax, or deliver a copy of each to the appeals referee and each party, before the hearing date. Do this even if you previously submitted the evidence to DES. Only the documents and recordings in the hearing file will be considered, unless the right to view them is waived.
Often, documents and affidavits are hearsay and not enough to prove what happened. An employer who must rely on business records should provide a witness who can testify about how the records were prepared and vouch for their authenticity. Unless it meets the statutory requirement set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. 8C, Article 9, or qualifies as an exception to the hearsay rule, the evidence cannot be used as the sole basis for a finding of fact. Once the hearing is closed, no additional evidence will be accepted.
Overview For Accusation Of Willful Misconduct
Chances are that if you have been accused of willful misconduct, you will need to prove that the misconduct was not as severe as willful misconduct or you had justified cause for your behavior.
How to win an unemployment hearing for misconduct will be most easily won with a good employment lawyer on your side since he or she will know how to challenge your employers accusation. It is your employers responsibility to prove that you were participating in willful misconduct. Their goal is to show that you, the employee, knew about a certain rule and intentionally violated it. This can be as simple as an employee handbook that you signed. Your employer likely has experience in proving willful misconduct, and they will have resources to support their accusation.
Dont be intimidated by your employers allegation and dont go in alone, .
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Questions & Answers About Appeals And Redeterminations
Q: Can I file one appeal for all negative determination letters?
A: If you file your appeal in eServices, you cant do this. You must select each determination you want to appeal and provide any new information you want us to consider. If you send us your appeal by fax or mail, you should list all the determinations you want to appeal by their letter ID and include any new information for each determination, so we can review each one.
Q: Can I request a redetermination in addition to filing an appeal?
A: You do not need to do this. You only need to appeal. We review your appeal for a possible redetermination before we send it to OAH for a hearing. If we are unable to change our decision about your benefits, well send your appeal to OAH for a hearing.
Q: Should I continue submitting my weekly claim while you are considering my appeal for a redetermination?
A: Yes, you should continue to submit weekly claims for each week you want to receive benefits. If the appeal is decided in your favor, youll be paid for the weeks you claimed and are eligible for. You wont be paid for weeks you did not claim. If your employer appeals your right to benefits and the appeal is decided against you, youll have to repay any benefits you received.
Q: What is a redetermination?
Q: Is every appeal considered for a redetermination?
A: Yes. If you provide new information we will consider it for redetermination before we send it to OAH for a hearing.
What To Expect During The Hearing
Hearings are scheduled to be held either in-person or by telephone. It is important to follow the instructions given on the hearing notice for your participation. In some states if the appellant is not present at an in-person or phone hearing, the hearing officer may go forward and issue a decision.
The hearing officer typically begins the hearing by explaining the legal issues, the purpose of the hearing and the procedures to be followed. He or she often explains the order in which individuals will testify and the rights of cross-examination and rebuttal. An oath or affirmation is then administered to all witnesses. The moving party in the separation will usually present its case first. In a case in which the claimant was discharged, the hearing officer usually begins with the employer’s testimony. If the claimant voluntarily quit, testimony usually begins with the claimant.
In most hearings, each side may offer a closing statement after all the facts and information have been presented. A good approach here is to simply recap the main points of your argument without rehashing the entire case. If you choose not to offer a closing statement, let the hearing officer know you would like to stand on the record. The hearing officer then concludes the hearing and states that all testimony and evidence will be considered.
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Documents For The Hearing
Employers attending an unemployment hearing should submit any requested documents to the hearing officer prior to the hearing and bring all necessary records to the hearing to defend their position. These documents might include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Employment history: The employees first and last day of employment, as well as their job title, duties and pay rate at the time of separation.
- Disciplinary history and performance reviews: Documentation of all warnings given, suspensions and performance improvement plans.
- Policies and procedures: This includes the company handbook, union rule book, applicable training manuals, exit interview documentation and any copies of posted bulletins regarding policies. Also bring signed acknowledgment of receipt forms for all of these documents.
Can My Request For A Subpoena Be Denied
Yes. Your subpoena request may be denied for several reasons including that the request is itself objectionable or unreasonable, evidence requested is not relevant to the issues in your case, or there is insufficient information in the request to determine exactly what documents or evidence is needed for the hearing.
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Reading The Hearing Notice Carefully
The first step for employers is to read the hearing notice thoroughly and make sure to understand the participation instructions provided by the state. This will include the date and time of the hearing, whether the hearing is being held in person or over the phone, how to submit documentation for the hearing and how to provide your and your witnesses contact information.
Preparing For Your Hearing
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Submit A Statement On Appeal
Can I submit a statement without requesting the transcript?
Yes. You may submit a written statement within seven days of the date on the Notice of Receipt of Appeal.
Can I testify again or add anything to the case?
Most of the time the Appeal Board will decide the case based on the record from the Administrative Law Judges hearing without holding any more hearings. If the Board decides that another hearing is necessary, a hearing notice will be sent to you. New information submitted by a party on appeal will be considered only if a hearing is ordered by the Board.
Do I have to submit a written statement?
You don’t have to submit a statement, but you should send one if you want the Appeal Board Member to know exactly why you agree or disagree with the Administrative Law Judge’s decision. Two copies of the statement must be sent to the Appeal Board. If the statement is submitted by an attorney, the attorney must provide copies of the statement to the opposing parties and any opposing attorney.
Why Unemployment Claims Are Denied
If your unemployment claim is denied initially, the agency probably found that you are ineligible for unemployment benefits because:
- You voluntarily quit your job. You may still be eligible for unemployment benefits if you quit your last job, as long as you had a good reason for doing so. If you were denied unemployment benefits because you quit your job, however, that means the state agency decided your reasons for quitting the job didnt qualify.
- You were fired for misconduct. Being fired from your job doesnt necessarily disqualify you from unemployment benefits. It depends on why you were terminated. If the reasons your employer gave for firing you meet your states definition of misconduct, you claim may be denied.
- You dont have sufficient earnings or work during the base period. Each state imposes minimum earnings and/or work requirements during a 12-month base period . If the agency finds you dont meet those requirements, it may deny your claim.
Even if your unemployment claim is initially granted, you may later be denied unemployment benefits if you dont meet the ongoing requirements. For example, if you turn down suitable work, arent available for work , or you dont report earnings you receive while collecting unemployment benefits, the state may deny your claim going forward.
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